Basketball camp!
Oh, Daddy won't be home for dinner? I know! Let's have ice cream on the porch for dinner! (Otherwise known as: Mom Doesn't Want to Cook and it's Fun to be the Hero Sometimes.)
Brothers
Friends
Booba rides a bike!
So helpful
On a recent Wednesday night I was putting Ben and Jack to bed. Travis was at the church for youth group and I was going to be leaving just a few minutes later to pick him up. Jack, the helpful boy that he is, suggested that maybe he could go pick Travis up for me. Knowing his limitations, he suggested that I back the car out of the driveway, but confidently proposed that he drive to the church, get Travis, and come straight home. I looked at him and said, "Jack, what do you think I'm going to say to that?" He paused for only a minute, cocked his head to the side with a confused look on his face and replied, "Thank you?"
Romans
We've been studying Ancient Rome in school over the last few weeks and, as can be expected, it's a pretty fascinating subject for young boys. There's no shortage of battles being fought and those Romans certainly were impressive in their art of war. Even a herd of Carthaginian elephants couldn't stop them! But just as they were beginning to be really wowed by those brave Romans, we began to read of their treatment of early Christians. They had felt threatened by the Christians worshipping only one God instead of the many gods of the Romans and were determined to squelch the growth of Christianity.
We read about one man named Polycarp who was burned at the stake for refusing to denounce his love and devotion to Christ. All the way to the very end of his life, as flames were growing around him, he was praising God, thanking him for the privilege of dying for him and expressing joy at the thought of being with him that very day. The kids were silent and entranced through the whole story and when it was finished Ben said quietly, "I feel happy for Polycarp."
It was clear that Ben was conflicted. On one hand, he wanted to love those Romans for their fierce and admirable war tactics. But on the other hand, the greed and devotion to personal power that fueled their drive for war, combined with their disdain for Christians, made them pretty hard to admire. I decided to lay it all out there and then let him mull it over for himself for a while.
It became clear to me that he had formed his opinion one night while I was putting he and Jack to bed. Ben said, "Do you think that while we're on our way to heaven God will let us walk by hell and wave to the Romans?"
We read about one man named Polycarp who was burned at the stake for refusing to denounce his love and devotion to Christ. All the way to the very end of his life, as flames were growing around him, he was praising God, thanking him for the privilege of dying for him and expressing joy at the thought of being with him that very day. The kids were silent and entranced through the whole story and when it was finished Ben said quietly, "I feel happy for Polycarp."
It was clear that Ben was conflicted. On one hand, he wanted to love those Romans for their fierce and admirable war tactics. But on the other hand, the greed and devotion to personal power that fueled their drive for war, combined with their disdain for Christians, made them pretty hard to admire. I decided to lay it all out there and then let him mull it over for himself for a while.
It became clear to me that he had formed his opinion one night while I was putting he and Jack to bed. Ben said, "Do you think that while we're on our way to heaven God will let us walk by hell and wave to the Romans?"
Bird Watching Baby
History
"Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold."
I smiled at the memory of that rhyme last weekend as I took a little day trip to visit my old friend Emilie in western North Carolina. Her third baby, sweet little Bryant, was a mere four days old and since newborns are one of my very favorite things on the planet, it was only natural that I would head on over to get my hands (and my camera) on him. He was worth the drive. The cherry on top was the fact that my eight your old Caroline and six year old Ben got to come along - just the two of them - to spend the day romping through the woods, picnicking under a shade tree and splashing in the creek (even though it was barely above 50 degrees) with Emilie's eight year old daughter and six year old son. To say they had fun together woud be an understatement.
As I left I realized how rare and special it is to have friends with so much history to share life with. Emilie and I were Pioneer Girls on Wednesday nights in fifth and sixth grade. We weathered the junior high and high school years with sleep-overs, camping trips and double dates. We shared weddings and pregnancies and now our children get to enjoy each other, too.
We all had our interests and talents growing up and Emilie was the famous model. We'd go into County Seat and see her pretty face in the latest Levi ad or on the cover of the local bridal guide. The camera still loves Emilie and I think she passed those photogenic genes right on down to baby Bryant.
I'm grateful for a friendship with such history and am looking forward to all that we'll share in the coming years. Old friends are a treasure, indeed.
I smiled at the memory of that rhyme last weekend as I took a little day trip to visit my old friend Emilie in western North Carolina. Her third baby, sweet little Bryant, was a mere four days old and since newborns are one of my very favorite things on the planet, it was only natural that I would head on over to get my hands (and my camera) on him. He was worth the drive. The cherry on top was the fact that my eight your old Caroline and six year old Ben got to come along - just the two of them - to spend the day romping through the woods, picnicking under a shade tree and splashing in the creek (even though it was barely above 50 degrees) with Emilie's eight year old daughter and six year old son. To say they had fun together woud be an understatement.
As I left I realized how rare and special it is to have friends with so much history to share life with. Emilie and I were Pioneer Girls on Wednesday nights in fifth and sixth grade. We weathered the junior high and high school years with sleep-overs, camping trips and double dates. We shared weddings and pregnancies and now our children get to enjoy each other, too.
We all had our interests and talents growing up and Emilie was the famous model. We'd go into County Seat and see her pretty face in the latest Levi ad or on the cover of the local bridal guide. The camera still loves Emilie and I think she passed those photogenic genes right on down to baby Bryant.
I'm grateful for a friendship with such history and am looking forward to all that we'll share in the coming years. Old friends are a treasure, indeed.
Take Your Ben to Work Day!
